‘Sting’ operation at Chennai airport

On Tuesday, some air passengers were attacked by bees on the departure level of the new terminal

On Tuesday, air passengers at Chennai airport were welcomed with a sting.

Around 5 p.m., some passengers were reportedly stung by bees outside the Indian Airlines counter on the departure level of the new domestic terminal, said an official of the Airports Authority of India.

The bees must have come from the hive hanging on the airside of the new terminal, the official said. Workers from the Central Warehousing Corporation were called in to attend to the problem. They used smoke and chemicals to kill the bees. “Passengers were seen running helter-skelter after the bees attacked them. We have to find a solution to the bee problem at the earliest,” said another official.

On Monday, The Hindu reported that passengers on board a Jet Airways flight from Chennai to New Delhi, on May 29, saw honey bees (view the video here) near the aircraft wing. The flight was delayed by 15 minutes owing to this problem. Another official said he also spotted a bee hive on the airside of the new international terminal.

D. Sudhakar Reddy of Air Passengers Association of India said, “It is unfair to subject the passengers to such problems at the Chennai airport. What kind of system are we running here? There should be a staff to inspect the terminal constantly to ensure that passengers don’t face such issues.”

Bee attacks have happened at the Chennai airport in the past too.

In March 2006, an Indian Airbus flight was delayed by 45 minutes when bees covered the nose of the jet. In November 2010 too, a Kingfisher flight was delayed by half an hour after bees surrounded the aircraft wing.